DISTANCE
FROM SUN: 67 million miles
REVOLUTION AROUND SUN: 225 days
ROTATION: 243 days.
DIAMETER: 7,520 miles
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE: 850°F
SATELLITES: 0
Let's visit Venus. What would we find? Well, it is about the same size as Earth. Venus is the closest planet to Earth, but it does not have oceans or human life like Earth. Some call it our "sister" planet.
If Venus is our sister planet, it is a really mean sister. The planet is covered with thick poisonous clouds
(sulfuric acid). These clouds keep the temperature on Venus hotter
than on Mercury! Venus gets so hot during the day that it could melt a lead cannonball.
And as if those facts were not bad enough, the
atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide. Lastly, the air on Venus presses down
so hard that space probes have been crushed when they landed there! You may want
to put Venus at the bottom of you vacation list!
Why do you think the word hotter is in bold Italics?
Venus does not have any moons or rings. It has been called the Evening Star. The thick poisonous clouds reflect sunlight and make Venus look so bright to us from Earth. There are constant thunderstorms in these clouds. They swirl with the force of a hurricane! The surface of Venus has many craters which were made by meteorites and asteroids crashing into the planet. Venus also has volcanoes.
This planet is unusual because it rotates in a direction opposite that of all of the other planets. The Sun would seem to rise in the west and set in the east. Venus spins very slowly as it orbits the Sun. It rotates on its axis once every 243 Earth days (very slowly), while it orbits the sun every 225 days. Its day is longer than its year!
Questions:
1. Why is Venus called the Evening
Star? Explain.
2. How is Venus' rotation different from Earth's rotation?
3. What would be a longer amount of time on Venus, a day or a year?
Write 5 reasons why you will not plan your next vacation on Venus.